I waited until this morning to write about it because I think it took this long to be able to move again.

Holy wow Batman, what was I thinking?

So, a little back story. I’m sure I said something about this before, but that’s okay because I repeat myself a lot. Though I do think that’s the first time I’ve ever said holy wow. Ever. Not sure where that came from. But after (and during) that workout, I’m sure there were a lot of phrases circulating in my head that are not normal for me. Hopefully I had the restraint to keep most of them in my head.

A few years back, sitting very uncomfortably near 400 pounds, I sat in on a seminar for weight loss surgery, and there was a panel of people who had had the surgery to tell about their journey. One of the guys really caught my attention, talking about having been able to run a half marathon, going on to training for other things. There was a wistful thought, thinking I wonder what it’s like to be able to run again, especially for a sustained period of time. So, fast forward to the training program for the half marathon, and one of the guys leading the group seemed familiar. I come to find out that he’d had weight loss surgery, with the same surgeon, and I’m pretty sure he was the one who caught my attention on that panel all those years ago.

Small world, eh?

Anyway, he’s had an incredible transformation. He looks great, is doing Ironman competitions, all that good stuff. My wife has commented to me that wouldn’t be great to end up that buff? Sounds like a hint to me. So to finish the back story, he’s started something called O2EA – Overweight to Endurance Athlete, where they’ve got a gym now, and part of this is this 90 day challenge. It’s a package that includes some customized nutritional counselling, personal training, run training, and a bunch of fitness camp and yoga sessions. I’ve never done anything like this before, probably because I’m too cheap (which is a good cover for the real reason which is too chicken). But seeing how I feel like I’ve just been kinda drifting since the half marathon, I felt like this would be a good way to get some focus back. So here I am.

And 15 minutes into the session one of those phrases that did manage to escape my brain and blurt out of my mouth was, What the hell am I thinking???

The instructor tells us we’re going to do tabatas. I’ve never heard of such a thing. Is this some kind of martini or something? No, 20 seconds of intense workout, with 10 second rests, repeat this 8 times. Okay, I can make that. Maybe.

I think the very first thing we did was, you start at a standing position, drop to one knee, drop to the other knee, then back up one leg at a time. You’re talking about a guy who, dropping both knees to the ground has never been an easy routine. At my worst I needed a sort of ladder approach… Find several different levels of very solid furniture that I can lean on while slowly moving closer to the ground. Start with a table, then lean down and grab a chair, and maybe, just maybe I can make it to the ground. Just getting to the ground has been a 20 second exercise before. We sure don’t need to start talking about getting back up again. Now I’ve gotten better at that kinda thing, but still…. you want me to do all this WITHOUT something to lean on? And do it multiple times in a 20 second period? How bout I take the first 20 getting down… recover through the next 10 seconds, and for good measure recover through the next 20 as well, before getting back up?

Love. a. duck.

And that was the easy part.

Halfway through, I’m like… okay…. this is the 4th day of the challenge, I’ve made it this far. Time to take up my floor mat and go home. Except at this point I think the mat is too stinking heavy. And then when we’re done we’re doing these crazy stretches and I’m on the ground like a pretzel. I’m starting to wonder how well prepared this place is for situations like this because as I’m looking around, there are no cranes. This could be a problem, unless they let me sleep this off right here.

And then I’m wondering just how water resistant these exercise mats are. I know I didn’t sweat like this during my long runs. And it’s crazy cold outside, and I’m envioning turning into a block of ice by the time I get across the parking lot to my car.

And then I’m thinking of adding yoga to this?

Love a duck.

But I got through it. And for all my moaning about it, I have to admit that most of the moaning is for affect. It’s more fun to carry on about the challenge, and it works. Don’t tell anyone, I feel pretty good right now.

That will last until this afernoon, it’s nutritional counselling time. One of those come to Jesus moments.

Advertisements

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

About Ron Walter

I'm just a guy who was so out of shape he couldn't run to get out of the rain. I'm taking my life back. It's not always perfect, not always successful. The victories though are greater than the defeats. I plan to keep it that way.